Issue no.33

No more wet for England!

One might think that Ministry of Defence is not taking care much about citizens, just some troops in Iraq.

That image is about to change very soon. P2i a company that's part of the UK Ministry of Defense's programme of commercialization of government technologies. P2i uses "patented plasma technology to treat everyday objects with an invisible mask that repels oil and water, without altering the look or feel of the treated object…invisible to the eye and undetectable to touch". When using the plasma, essentially all liquids that touch the object simply bead up on the surface instead of soaking or wetting the object. Moreover, the process for creating the plasma is environmentally friendly.

What's incredible is that this technology can be applied to textiles, footwear, filtration systems and bio-consumables. The ability to use the technology on so many manufactured products ensures that it will have a great impact on fashion, home design, footwear and engineering systems. Simply put: its forecasted popularity is due to the fact that it uses an eco-method to create a variety of more efficient products that have added value. Sneakers you can wear in the rain, shirts you can simply wipe spilt drinks off of and unique shower curtains. Makes me want to get a waterproof blouse and pour a glass of wine on myself.

Via TrendsSpotting.com

This week’s special:

Gogme.biz - a business- oriented social network where site members can implement business ideas together through online collaboration. The website has gathered around 100 business ideas and 900 site members so far. According to the co-founder, Lance Lim, around 80% of the site members had pledged to become co-owners of the first Globally Owned Globally Managed Enterprise, Gogme Learning.

Scientists Develop Plastic-Producing Bacteria

Scientists at Genomatica Inc. recently announced that they have developed strains of bacteria that are able to produce plastic without the use of oil or natural gas. The sustainable process utilizes little more than sugar and water to produce butanediol (BDO), which can be manufactured into everything from plastics and fibers to pharmaceuticals. Genomatica estimates that within a year the energy-efficient process will cost less than current hydrocarbon-based processes - a revolutionary development since close to 3 billion pounds of BDO manufactured each year.